WNBA Finals Preview: What To Look For And Who All Gon’ Be There

It’s the WNBA Finals, and we know one thing for sure — there will be a brand-new champion. The upstart Valkyries are vying for a championship in just their second year, while the Atlanta Dream hope to raise a banner after failing to reach the finish line in 2013.

Led by superstar and Defensive Player of the Year Angel Reese, the Dream also boast Jordin Canada and Rhyne Howard. Howard and Allisha Gray are the team’s top scoring threats, while Naz Hillmon has also been a defensive standout.

WNBA Finals Schedule

In 2026, it’s a best-of-seven, 2-2-1-1-1 format for only the second time in WNBA Finals history. Both teams swept their semifinal series 3-0: Golden State dethroned the defending champion Las Vegas Aces, while Atlanta swept the 2024 champs, the New York Liberty. The Valkyries also swept the regular-season series against Atlanta, 3-0. Neither franchise has ever won a championship.

Game 1: Saturday, Oct. 17, 3:30 p.m. ET — Chase Center, San Francisco — NBC, Peacock
Game 2: Monday, Oct. 19, 8 p.m. ET — Chase Center — USA, Peacock (plus CNBC)
Game 3: Wednesday, Oct. 21, 8 p.m. ET — State Farm Arena, Atlanta — USA, CNBC, Peacock
Game 4: Saturday, Oct. 24, 1 p.m. ET — State Farm Arena — NBC, Peacock
Game 5:* Monday, Oct. 26, 8 p.m. ET — Chase Center — USA, Peacock
Game 6:* Thursday, Oct. 29, 8 p.m. ET — Atlanta (venue TBD) — USA, Peacock
Game 7:* Saturday, Oct. 31, 8 p.m. ET — Chase Center — USA, Peacock

NBC’s on-air team for Games 1 and 4: Zora Stephenson (play-by-play), Sarah Kustok (analyst) and Ashley ShahAhmadi (sideline) — a first Finals assignment for all three. In the studio is the popular trio of Sue Bird, Cheryl Miller and Maria Taylor on WNBA Showtime.

How to Watch/Stream

Every game streams on Peacock. Games 1 and 4 are broadcast on NBC; Games 2, 3 and 5-7 air on USA Network, with Peacock simulcasting USA’s feed. Game 3 also airs on CNBC. This is NBC’s first WNBA Finals telecast since 2002.

How the Dream Secured State Farm Arena

The Dream normally play at the 3,500-seat Gateway Center Arena in College Park, Georgia, but fans, players and pundits objected to plans to use it as the venue for the Finals, especially since Chase Center, where the Valkyries play, regularly sells out its 17,000 seats.

But State Farm Arena, home of the Atlanta Hawks, had two conflicts on the days Finals games were originally scheduled. That was resolved Oct. 13, when the league announced Games 3 and 4 would be played at State Farm. Game 3 moves from Thursday, Oct. 22, to Wednesday, Oct. 21, to dodge a Sombr concert; Game 4’s tipoff moves from 3:30 p.m. to 1 p.m. ET so the Hawks can still play their home opener against Houston that night, which was pushed to 8:30 p.m.

But Game 6, if needed, is still unresolved, as the Hawks play the Cleveland Cavaliers that day. Next year, the Dream move all 25 home games to State Farm.

Who to Watch

Valkyries: Gabby Williams (22.7 PPG this postseason, the leading scorer still playing and runner-up for DPOY; All-Defensive first team; Bay Area native who says she has “superpowers” at Chase Center); Kiah Stokes (three-time champ with the Las Vegas Aces, 9.5 RPG/2.0 BPG, All-Defensive second team); Veronica Burton (floor general, team assists and steals leader); Kayla Thornton (physical two-way wing); Janelle Salaün (2026 Sixth Player of the Year, 93 regular-season 3-pointers). Second-year coach Natalie Nakase was the 2025 Coach of the Year after winning two championships as an assistant under Becky Hammon with the Aces.

Dream: Angel Reese (2026 DPOY; set single-game, single-season rebounding and single-season double-double records; 16.4/12.1/2.8/1.8 in the regular season; 18.0/8.4/2.2 blocks in the playoffs); Rhyne Howard (19.2 PPG in the playoffs, 2.2 steals); Jordin Canada (scoring up from 11.6 to 19.2 PPG in the playoffs, 2.2 steals); DeWanna Bonner (two-time champ with the Phoenix Mercury in her 17th season at 39, acquired in late August and starting for the injured Gray); Allisha Gray (the Dream’s leading regular-season scorer at 19.0 PPG — hurt in Game 1 of the semis, status officially day-to-day).

Likely Matchups

• Reese vs. Stokes — Atlanta led the league in paint points; Golden State allowed the fewest paint points all season.
• Williams vs. Atlanta’s wing defense — She’s the best pure scorer left in the playoffs.
• Canada vs. Burton — Canada’s playoff scoring against the Valkyries’ top guard.
• Atlanta’s pressure vs. Golden State’s poise — The Dream force a postseason-high 17.2 turnovers per game; the Valkyries are 5-1 this postseason and just held the Aces to a season-low 60 points in a semifinal game.
• The Gray question — If she remains out, Bonner becomes an even more critical player.
• The Tiffany Hayes factor — The former Dream player may see this as a grudge match after being traded away from Atlanta in 2024. She played on the losing side the last time the Dream reached the Finals.

The Fans

Chase Center, home to the seven-time NBA champion Golden State Warriors, has earned the nickname Balhalla, as WNBA fans have embraced the Valkyries with rabid intensity.

State Farm Arena is sold out for the Dream’s Finals games, and Atlanta fans should be as intense as the V’s, given the certain celebrity contingent that may show up. Local rap stars T.I., Latto and Bow Wow, along with reality stars Reginae and Toya Carter, are among those who have come out to Dream games this season.

Five-time MVP A’ja Wilson may show up (if she’s not in Miami with partner Bam Adebayo) because former Gamecock Gray is her BFF. In the Bay, expect a contingent of Warriors players like Draymond Green, who’s pledged his support to his sister squad.

Predictions, Controversies & Hot Takes

• Sue Bird — The NBC studio analyst gave Atlanta “a slight, slight razor’s edge” given its high-profile scorers. She faced backlash after calling the No. 2 seed Valkyries underdogs given their two-year existence. One response: “How they the underdogs if you been the #2 seed the entire time and just swept the reigning champions?”
• Cheryl Miller — The NBC studio analyst had one strong prediction: “No sweeps. There will be no sweeps in this series.”
• ESPN projections: Valkyries 62.4%, Dream 37.6%.
• Stephen A. Smith torched the league over the arena debacle, calling it “pretty damn pathetic” and “embarrassing.” He argued that a Finals team wondering where it’ll play its home games shows the league still isn’t taken seriously enough. Indiana Fever’s Sophie Cunningham agreed with Smith on her No Hesitation podcast: “Can you respect us a little bit? Respect Atlanta … If this was an NBA team, this wouldn’t have even come out on social media.”
• Jason Whitlock said if Reese wanted a Finals sellout, the Dream should play at a high school gym. Joke’s on him, as tickets for the Dream game at State Farm sold out in under 10 minutes.
• The league’s landmark 30th season ends with two franchises chasing their first championship — the Dream are in their fourth Finals (2010, 2011, 2013) and first since 2013; the Valkyries are the fastest expansion team to reach the Finals in league history, doing it in just Year 2.
• Atlanta brings a 10-game win streak, tying the 2017 Sparks’ record for longest entering a Finals, and is undefeated this postseason; Golden State brings the league’s best defense and a $1 billion valuation.

Must Watch

E! / USA Sports: Live from the Orange Carpet: WNBA Finals — A one-hour live special Monday, Oct. 19, at 6 p.m. from Chase Center, hosted by Lilly Singh with Wanda Sykes, Tina Thompson and WNBA player stylist Brittany Hampton. It’s a 30th-season celebration of the league’s fashion and culture footprint.

Watch Chiney Today’s breakdown of the 2026 WNBA Finals: